We are Equals
by mybabu
Summary: But that was one of the major differences between the two of them. Sasuke measured his strength by how many people he’d beaten. Naruto measured his, by seeing how far he could go.


We are Equals.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Sasuke and Naruto were two genin who belonged to Team 7. The other member of their team was a girl, named Sakura Haruno. Now, to describe the relationship between these three people would possibly take an eighty page thesis, though the short of it was, Sakura fancied Sasuke, Naruto fancied Sakura, and Sasuke fancied himself and no-one else. Though, despite this interesting triangle of feelings, the relationship that generally deserved the greatest fascination was that between Sasuke and Naruto.

They shared a complex bond. Usually most of the time it was a bond of rivalry; there was always a competition going between the two, no matter how petty. Then there were other times, this bond grew and resembled something like brotherhood. It was in these moments that an outsider could see past the obvious, surface differences and appreciate the great likeness between them.

-------

A dull thud sounded, and signalled Sasuke to the fact that his kunai had met its mark; the bullseye. With a slight glance around to the other two genin on his team, Sasuke walked forward to the target and un-wedged his weapons to begin again. Sakura's kunai weren't even meeting her target; she was too pre-occupied with looking in his direction to notice what she was doing. And when she actually saw Sasuke observing her, she went a bright red and tried, but failed, to act as if it didn't bother her. Sasuke only gave her a sneer. It was pathetic that she was so weak and could let another affect her so easily; let them have so much control.

The dobe, however, was another story entirely. He seemed oblivious to the world around him. As far as he knew the only things in existence were his kunai and that target in-front of him. His technique was rough and it showed when he threw the weapons. When they did happen to reach the target, they would be lodged in tight, whereas if they missed, it made you thank god there was nobody behind the target.

When the dobe eventually had to go and collect his kunai, he spared the Uchiha a glance. He was met with a sight of the genius launching several kunai in succession; to have them all form a vertical line through his target. Naruto grumbled to himself, as he picked his sharp weapons off the ground, how the hell did he do it so perfect? They had only been going at this exercise about an hour tops. _Bloody git, gets the girls and the skill. But that's no matter, because one day I'm going to be Hokage and then everyone will know my abilities._

-------

Today, Kakashi had set them to battle against one another. Sasuke, as usual, was placed with Naruto and while Sakura worked with Kakashi. It was always this way, as she didn't stand a chance against either team-mate with her mediocre skill. They had been told they were to use any jutsu they knew. Upon hearing this, Naruto emitted a groan. The only techniques he knew were his sexy jutsu and the shadow replication. Whereas Sasuke probably had an entire bank of jutsu's he could use. And no doubt, he would use the most powerful and dangerous ones he knew. He took any opportunity to show the dobe, his 'rightful' place.

Stationed opposite one another, they began. Naruto quickly began making the seals of the shadow clone jutsu, when he suddenly felt his entire body immersed in flames. The extreme heat, made him want to literally jump out of his skin. After a few seconds the searing pain ceased and the jutsu wore off. The fight was over and Sasuke had won. Naruto looked down at the black on his skin. He wasn't burnt; it was just the sooty remains. But he couldn't help but get annoyed at the fact that Sasuke's appearance was immaculate (for which Sakura was always complimenting him,) he didn't have a smear or scratch any where on him. _Barstard_ thought Naruto.

Their next assignment was to run several laps around the village. As Kakashi announced this, both Naruto and Sakura protested, arguing they had done enough today. Their sensei promised that this was a warming down exercise and after this they were free to leave and enjoy the rest of the day.

And so they set off. Predictably Sakura fell behind early on. Her stamina, at best was a mere tenth of what the boys had. Sasuke and Naruto however surged on, both neck and neck with each with other. Sometimes Sasuke would gain the upper hand and get ahead of the dobe; he would give him a mocking smile as he passed. When Naruto took the lead, he did not spare a glance to the Uchiha. He was too focused on the finish line. But that was one of the major differences between the two of them. Sasuke measured his strength by how many people he'd beaten. Naruto measured his, by seeing how far he could go.

In the end, Sasuke won, though only by foot. He gave a condescending bow toward the dobe, as if saying 'thanks for racing, I couldn't have won otherwise.' By the time Sakura had finished, clutching her stomach and gasping for breath, the other two had already gone. Kakashi told her 'good job' and then also left, with a puff of smoke. He didn't see the pink haired girl, sink to the ground and dissolve into tears. She was, as usual, the last one left.

-------

As Naruto walked home, his attention was directed the crowd in front of him. There ahead, was Sasuke surrounded by girls. He looked very irritated and eager to leave the mob behind. He seemed to be trying to get away, but without much success. Naruto supposed the many arms holding onto him had something to do with it.

An idea formed in Naruto's head, and with a grin he made several seals with his hands.

-------

_Why can't I be left alone?_ Wondered Sasuke, _Am I really asking that much?_ He didn't think so. Surely he didn't deserve this. He hadn't done anything to these girls. Hell, he hadn't even seen half of them before. One minute he was walking down the street (ahead of the dobe) and the next he was ambushed by these squeaky screechy creatures that called themselves females.

A noise, that sounded like a stampeding heard, caught his attention. There coming toward the group at what looked a million miles an hour, were nearly 50 Naruto clones. Sasuke raised his eyes to the sky and whispered to no-one "Thank you."

At the sight of the rampaging Naruto's the girls squealed and ran away in every direction. Seeing the plan had worked, the clones came to a halt in front of the dark haired boy, then there was a large puff of smoke and where many Naruto's had once stood, only one remained, and he wore a very smug grin.

"Thanks," said Sasuke grudgingly.

"You're welcome." Replied Naruto cheerily.

"Though I could have dealt with them myself." He assured.

"I believe you."

"I had a nice fire jutsu lined up," continued Sasuke.

"I have no doubt." Said Naruto. Then added, "I'm gonna go get some ramen, wanna come?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Whatever."

As they made their way to the ramen stand, Naruto noticed a pink-haired girl sitting on a bench. She was hugging her knees to her chest. He nudged Sasuke to take a look, who responded with a face that said 'So, what's that got to do with me?'

Naruto just frowned and walked on to the stand, leaving Sasuke to himself. Sighing, Sasuke walked over to the pink haired girl. She didn't even notice he was there, until he was standing in front of her. As soon as Sakura looked up, he could tell she had been crying. Her red-rimmed eyes were puffy and her face was drawn of all colour. To the Uchiha's great surprise however, she didn't immediately leap of the bench to draw closer to him, all the while smoothing out her hair and making minor adjustments to her appearance. Instead she gave him a confused looked, then turned to stare in the other direction.

There was a long moment of silence. Eventually it was broken by Sakura, who asked without turning to face him, "What do you want?"

"We're having ramen, you wanna come?" said Sasuke.

Sakura's head snapped to look at him, and frowning she said, "Naruto, if you're pretending to be Sasuke again, I'm not in the mood."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. _Dobe's pretended to be me before? _He thought. "I'm not Naruto."

Sakura gave a scoff, which Sasuke found was very out of character for her. "Yeah, right."

"Hurry up Teme, Sakura- Chan, the ramen is getting cold!!!" shouted a voice.

At this surprised Sakura got to her feet and walked over to the stand. Sasuke fell into step beside her. "Why would _you_ invite me?" she asked curiously.

Sasuke shrugged, again. "We're a team."


End file.
